“Keeping the Right Distance” Acts 7 Rev. Ryan Laughlin

                             Sermon Discussion Questions


    1) After reading over Acts 7, can you give a brief summary? What are the major themes in Stephen’s speech? What was Stephen being accused of by the religious leaders?

    2) What do we hear in Stephen’s warning as he addresses the religious leaders?

   3) Essentially, the religious leaders in Acts 7 had rejected Jesus and therefore spiritually distancing themselves from God. Are there times in our lives when we have spiritually distanced ourselves from God by rejecting His Word, like the leaders in Acts 7?

  4) Stephen also warned the leaders about replacing the presence of God just as God’s people had done previously throughout redemptive history. We can heed that warning now in our present time. What are ways we have replaced the presence of God in our lives? What/who is the source of our hope in times of uncertainty?

5) Stephen was addressing the very council of leaders that had sentenced Jesus to death weeks or months prior. Yet, he was confident that Jesus was close to him in the midst of persecution. How do we see Jesus being “there” for Stephen in Acts 7:55-56? How do we see Jesus being victorious, sovereign and attentive in this passage?

6) Sermon quote: “As believers we have union with Christ. We don’t have to coerce Him to be close to us. In Christ, we already have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” How does this truth change the way we live on a daily basis? How does it change the way we interact with each other?